Studio Xaquixe in Oaxaca, Mexico
Artists and designers choosing to work with recycled glass is nothing new, and often takes the form of re-use out of respect for the outsized carbon footprint and high-energy costs of melting glass. But a sustainability-focused studio that takes it upon itself to decode the chemical composition of industrially-produced bottle glass, and figures out how to reformulate the chemical composition of that glass so that it is suited for studio use (with a slower set-up time) is a rarity. The amount of energy needed to make make soda lime glass from its raw ingredients into fne-art pieces or mezcal bottles, is enormous, but Christain Thornton, Salime Harp, and their team at Studio Xaquixe in Oaxaca, Mexico, are working to reduce the carbon footprint of their already sustainability focused glass studio. by pushing the boundaries of recycling in a studio environment
The idea of the studio was born in New York, when Thornton and Harp first met at UrbanGlass, where Thornton was working and beginning to develop ideas for sustainable glassblowing techniques and she was finishing a thesis that revolved around artisanal mescal bottles. After a romance blossomed between them, the two decided to conjoin projects. Thonton spent time in the U.S. Virgin Islands working on recycled glass techniques and building a studio with a recuperated heat system at Maho Bay, an eco-resort, while Harp went to Mexico to begin the legal process of setting up a studio. Construction of Xaquixe began in August 2001 and completed a mere six months later.
Recycled glass makes up 95% of Xaquixe's glass formula
Although the choice of Mexico as a location for a sustainable glass studio is an odd one at first glance, especially a region of Mexico that is as isolated and economically marginalized as Oaxaca, the location allows Xaquixe to have the greatest impact in terms of both promoting glass art and environmental sustainability as a mindset. And both are equally important to Thornton and Harp, who are no longer romantically involved but remain business partners.
“The very first thing that makes Mexico a particularly ripe place to start a studio of this kind is the great need that exists here. The environmental degradation in Mexico is at a high. The basic municipal waste management system has major challenges and insufficiencies,” Harp writes in an e-mail interview with the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet. “There isn’t a prevalent culture of recycling already in place. But there is a vital need, from residences to businesses, from the city center, to the small, rural villages—to figure out new and creative ways to deal with our waste.”
Xaquixe uses creative thinking in ways that go beyond using recycled glass to create new products, they’re also thinking about the fundamental necessities of creating glass objects and trying to find new ways that the process can become more environmentally friendly. They’ve built their ovens with computers that can monitor and program energy use. They’ve also been built with a heat recuperation system that reduces energy use by 35-percent. One of the studio’s most recent project is the research and development of a biodigestor that can convert organic waste into methane, with a biproduct of nutrient-rich soil; the methane would then be used to power ovens and furnaces in place of propane gas. Attempts to find grants for this are still ongoing, but as Harp writes, “The main idea at the studio is to redirect the heat produced from one process into another. This is possible through intelligent design—the thoughtful distribution of furnaces. We also constructed the furnaces and equipment from reused materials—which is a kind of innovation of its own.” And indeed, being environmentally mindful goes beyond recycling glass, oscillating production schedules to maximize energy efficiency, and streamlining administrative processes (which they do). It is a concept so fundamental to Xaquixe that they include it in their educational coursework. “We want people to get involved with the whole recycling glass process,” says Harp. “In this way we make them aware of the importance of taking care of our environment. They create work, but within an ecosystem—not in an isolated bubble.”
Design piece from Studio Xaquixe
Even with an ambitious slate of organizational goals, Xaquixe is seeing some in-roads being made in the community, both in the increased visibility of glass art and the increased awareness of sustainability. “The first major impact we witnessed locally was when we decided four years ago to stop purchasing recycled glass from major bottle producers,” Harp writes. “We made a call out to our surrounding communities, asking for clean waste glass. And our call was answered in spades. A variety of people arrived—from small families with just a few sacks they had collected from the rivers and streets in their village—to larger waste collectors that could bring us up to 5 tons.” The studio has been working with local artists to help them incorporate glass into mixed media projects as well as giving them the opportunity to try their hand at working with glass.
They’ve also invited internationally known artists such as Francisco Toledo and Jan Hendrix into their workshop and host events to show the public the process of working with glass and help raise the studio’s profile. And the studio’s profile has, indeed, been raised, but as Harp points out, “environmental and social transformation is a marathon, not a sprint—that’s for sure.”
Mescal bottle made by Studio Xaquixe
But, those ambitious goals also raise the question of where Xaquixe’s primary organizational emphasis is placed: Is it in teaching, creating energy efficient technology, or creating pieces like Harp’s mescal bottles or the larger, architectural installations the studio has completed? Harp’s response makes it clear the studio is about all of those things. “The origins of the project had an emphasis on the production of glass bottles for mescal, as well as work with design and architectural projects,” she says. “However, the current vision spans between those production goals (which allow for our economic sustainability) and our social and educational goals of innovating our industry, sharing those innovations and offering a positive example for whole systems thinking. The two lines of thinking cannot live alone, in our mind. One feeds the other with an effort towards holistic sustainability.”
For more information on the studio: www.xaquixe.com
—Jason Gutierrez